How The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Silver Surfer Improves On The 2007 Version

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," now playing in theaters.

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" brings the Silver Surfer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. The Herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer is an iconic and complex character whom fans have been eager to see enter the MCU for some time. With the Fantastic Four film rights restored to Marvel Studios, both the Surfer and Galactus can also become a part of Marvel Studios' big screen continuity. 

"First Steps" wasn't the first time the Silver Surfer appeared in a movie, though. Galactus and his herald also made an appearance in Fox's 2007 movie "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." And strangely, there are several similarities between their roles in "Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "First Steps." 

Both movies make a pivotal plot point out of Johnny Storm making first contact with the Silver Surfer. Both also see Susan Storm dying, only to be resurrected by a character using the Power Cosmic. Both movies also end with the Silver Surfer risking their own life to betray and defeat Galactus. However, "First Steps" makes a few major deviations, the most obvious being the use of Shalla-Bal, rather than Norrin Radd, as the Silver Surfer. The movie also dives deeper into the connection between Johnny Storm and the Surfer, while drawing a stronger parallel between Shalla-Bal and the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Studios' changes to the Silver Surfer stretch beyond the change from Norrin Radd to Shalla-Bal, though this change informs many of the more important choices "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" makes. By introducing a female Silver Surfer, the movie was able to portray the character as a mother who became the Herald of Galactus to protect her child. This mirrors Susan Storm's story as she defies Galactus in order to protect her newborn son, Franklin, whom Galactus wants to claim as his deadly heir.

The 2007 version of the Silver Surfer saw the character eventually moved to betray Galactus simply because Sue Storm reminded him of his beloved (unnamed in the movie, but Shalla-Bal in the comics). Though Sue asked him whether he felt guilt over the worlds he had helped destroy, "First Steps" does a far better job of making the Silver Surfer confront her guilt Johnny Storm intercepts recordings from across space of other planets' dying screams, forcing Shalla-Bal to hear the pain she has wrought, and leading to her turn against Galactus.

This stark confrontation with the consequences of her actions sees Shalla-Bal spare Franklin, whom she has been sent to capture for Galactus. The revelation that she serves Galactus only to protect her own child also makes her betrayal of him far more meaningful than Norrin Rad's in "Rise of the Silver Surfer." Shalla-Bal is able to save Franklin from sharing her fate as a thrall of Galactus, and to save Sue from losing her own child.